With Naz Reid no longer on the roster, the Timberwolves will rely more than ever on Joan Beringer to handle the backup center role. Coach Chris Finch talks about the importance of the 19-year-old big man in the latest installment of his interview with Britt Robson of MinnPost.
“You have to realize, as with all young players, there is going to be inconsistency,” Finch said. “The way I’m looking at it, is it self-imposed inconsistency or is it just young-player-growth inconsistency? I think with Joan you are certainly going to have the latter. The former — he plays so hard, he’s got incredible balance and energy. He’s got to figure out the balance of retaining the effort while regulating wanting to go after everything all the time.
“The fouls. He always ends up on the ground, you know? And oftentimes takes himself out of position by being overly aggressive. But learning to dial that back is better than the other way around, trying to ramp somebody up all the time.”
Beringer, the 17th pick in the 2025 draft, was brought along slowly last season, averaging 7.9 minutes in 40 games. Finch admits that his ability to handle expanded playing time will have a huge bearing on the team’s success.
“What gives us great confidence is that when he had chances last year — and he could have had more if we weren’t constructed the way we were constructed — he met the moment most of the time,” Finch added. “When he failed to meet the moment is when he had too much opportunity, like when I had to start him.”
There’s more on the Timberwolves:
Trading for LaMelo Ball and signing Jonathan Kuminga in free agency added a lot of athleticism to the starting lineup, and Finch told Robson that he plans to adjust his strategy to maximize that advantage. “I could see us being more purposeful with our combinations,” he said. “Putting (Anthony Edwards) with people in a two-man game, and things like that. I think we’ve got more flexibility there now. Having the point guard we have now gives us the chance to get back to using Anthony a little bit more strategically in certain situations that we couldn’t do last year. Anyway, defensively, I want us to increasingly use our physicality, ball-pressure, all the things that we have wanted to do.”
Finch calls last season “super frustrating” and says the team “underachieved” for most of the year, which led to a second-round playoff exit. He regrets a late-season switch to replace veteran point guard Mike Conley with Donte DiVincenzo in the starting lineup, telling Robson that it took a physical toll on Edwards and a mental toll on Conley, who departed this summer in free agency. He adds that the atmosphere surrounding the team often wasn’t good. “We didn’t play with any kind of joy at times,” Finch said. “We’d come in and out of moods — we’ve talked about before. And we’ve got to find a way to fight that if that remains in our personality, you know?”
The Wolves also experienced a major change on the sidelines as lead assistant Micah Nori became Portland’s new head coach. Pablo Prigioni is taking over that role, and Finch explains how his responsibilities will be different from what Nori used to do.